Downsizing Democracy

In the 19th century, America was exceptional for the vitality of its democratic institutions, particularly political parties. When citizens wanted change, they mobilized as political groups to pressure their congressional representatives or they made their power felt at the ballot box. Government, in turn, depended on the citizenry to staff public agencies, serve in the armed services, and provide funds in time of war through the purchase of bonds. Over the course of the 20th century, however, the nature of American democracy transformed so thoroughly that in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks on September 11th, President George W. Bush - elected by less than a quarter of eligible voters - told Americans that the best way they could help their country was to shop and travel while the government conducted a remote war. In this text, Matthew A. Crenson and Benjamin Ginsberg describe how the powerful idea of a collective citizenry has given way to a concept of personal, autonomous democracy, in which political change is effected through litigation, lobbying, and term limits, rather than active participation in the political process.
Mandatory taxes have replaced bonds as a means to fund military operations, career civil servants have replaced volunteers in the allocation of public services, and an elite, professional soldier has replaced the citizen-soldier. With citizens pushed to the periphery of political life, narrow special interest groups from across the political spectrum - largely composed of faceless members drawn from extended mailing lists - have come to dominate state and federal decision-making. In the closing decade of the last century, this trend only intensified as the federal government, taking a cue from business management practices, rethought its relationship to its citizens as one of a provider of goods and services to individual "customers".